In response to the growing number of cases of COVID-19 in Spain, the government declared a state of alarm on March 14 2020, which led to the imposition of a strict national quarantine. This measure, which took effect on the same day at 23:48 and remained in place until May 3, was one of the emergency actions taken to reduce the spread of the disease. This quarantine forced all citizens to remain locked in their usual residences, except for certain situations, such as buying food and medicines, going to work or attending emergencies. Although anxiety is a natural mechanism that our brain has for dealing with new situations, the stress caused by being locked in and the lack of knowledge about the disease had a notable impact on the mental health of the general population.

The photographs in this series were made between March 16 and May 3 as a reaction to the stress derived from the alarm situation and the constant bombardment of information about the pandemic. An everyday gesture such as looking at the sky became a small act of resistance during those days.

–

Friable, fluid, rocky,
flammable and volatile
stretches of sky, specks of sky,
gusts of sky, heaps of sky.
Sky is omnipresent,
even in darkness under the skin.

– Wisława Szymborska, “Sky”